Madeline MacNeil's performances are characterized by her effortless vocals and impeccable mountain and hammered dulcimer playing. In this book she reveals some of the secrets of her success with the mountain dulcimer. Early on, she reminds the reader that "the dulcimer is not a toy or a stringed kazoo" but a serious, expressive musical instrument capable of "stretching as far as the imagination". She endorses both playing by ear and learning to read standard notation.